24 Hour Classes
INSTRUCTOR: Bill Robertson, Artisan
COURSE: Woodworking
PROJECT: Small Blanket Chest with Hand Cut Dovetail Joints
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This class project is designed to show off all the work put into a detailed blanket chest. The small chest with bracket feet, measuring only 1 ¾" long, can be used as a spice box or toy chest. This hand tool based woodworking class is about conquering the daunting task of cutting dovetail joints. The instructor spent years working on many complex solutions to this and came up with a very simple method and has taught it to students all over the world. Using pre-cut cherry or other fine grained wooden parts, students will layout the joints without any complex measuring and cut them with a jeweler’s saw with the aid of a special fixture. Each student will get to keep the fixture for future use.
Once the chest’s case is assembled, the bottom
will be attached with steel nails. Using templates, the
bracket cut outs on the feet will be marked out and
cut. The corners will have exposed dovetails cut in
them. The simple molding on the top and above the
feet will be cut using both power and hand tools. One
method will be making a router bit to be used in a drill
press. Or students can use a hand plane to create the
molding, giving students a chance to do the same task
by different methods. Students will also learn to make
dowel joints to visibly show how feet and top molding
are attached. The top will be hinged with a special wire hinge the students will make and install. The chest will
have a natural finish that will “show off” the beautiful
dovetail joints. It could also be stained or painted.
TIME:
24 hours. Students should be able to complete the project in class. All of the techniques taught in class can be duplicated on their own at home on all sorts of projects without specialized or expensive tools.
POWER TOOLS:
table saw, drill press; both are optional
SKILL LEVEL:
Beginner and intermediate
MATERIALS FEE:
$75 to be collected at school